Bias Manipur Media coverage on the on-going agitation in Sadar Hill

Babua Biswas *

A damaged vehicle at Sardar Hills on August 03 2011

Sangai Express is considered to be the best News Paper in Manipur with great Journalism ethics. However, the coverage of the on-going agitation in Sadar Hills shows how bias Media can become.

How could Sangai ignore the forty years old demand of the people of Sadar Hills for a full fledged District? No one is demanding Kuki Land and dismantling the sovereignty and integrity of Manipur. What is being demanded is just an up-gradation of the Autonomous District to a full fledged District.

Why Sangai doesn't highlight the right and plight of the people of Sadar Hills rather than coming up with the damage created? Why not put up a picture of the women's and Children who brave the rainy nights to guard the Border of Sadar Hills preventing the notorious Manipur Comandoes to break the blockage?

Had this been a struggle involving the native Manipuri's, the issue would have been nationalized by now. This negligence of the Media, dominated by the Manipuri's once again established how communal Manipuri's are against other tribe whether they be the Kuki's, the Naga's or other communities from mainland India, whom they called MAYANKS.

It's not just Sangai who are ignoring the struggle that the people of Sadar Hills are up with. Even the main stream national media have ignored the voice of the people of Sadar Hills. However in this case, I don't blame the national media because sitting in Delhi or Kolkata, no one is aware of what is going on in Gamgiphai or Kangpokpi.

The fact here is that, several newspaper's correspondent and news channel's stringer belong to the Manipuri community, who all seems to have decided in unison not to highlight the agitation or to highlight the negative aspect of the agitation as they are against the creation of separate districts for the Kuki's as that would eat up large portion of the income of the Manipuri people.

It's time that Media stops discrimination and act truly as the fourth pillar of the constitution. Moreover, it's an appeal to the national media to fly in their unbiased special correspondent's to Sadar Hills to observe the true situation prevailing there and come up with the correct picture for the world to see.

Till the national media rely on their Manipuri correspondents based in Imphal, the true picture of the events will never be divulge for the World to see the pathetic condition, the people of Sadar Hills, are in at the moment.

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